HUMBLE, Texas – With birdies on each of his first four holes during the Shell Houston Open final round, Phil Mickelson put the rest of the field on alert that it could be another pre-Masters triumph for him.
It never materialized, though, as he added just two more birdies the rest of the way that were offset by a double bogey for a final total of 4-under 68.
“After four holes, I felt the pressure of having an opportunity to win,” Mickelson said. “It was a fun feeling. I love playing well here. Unfortunately, I didn’t do much after that start on the first four holes.”
Mickelson will leave Houston buoyed by weekend scores of 67-68 in his final start before the year’s first major. Just as he’s been since Friday, he sounded confident that his game is on the right track going forward.
“Even though I didn’t make a lot of putts today, I felt good with the putter; it was rolling off the face nice, had the right speed,” he explained. “As the week went on, I felt like my game got better.”